knot

Meaning

Noun

1. A looping of a piece of string or of any other long, flexible material that cannot be untangled without passing one or both ends of the material through its loops.
2. A tangled clump of hair or similar.
3. A maze-like pattern.
4. A non-self-intersecting closed curve in (e.g., three-dimensional) space that is an abstraction of a knot (in sense 1 above).
5. A difficult situation.
6. The whorl left in lumber by the base of a branch growing out of the tree's trunk.
7. Local swelling in a tissue area, especially skin, often due to injury.
8. A tightened and contracted part of a muscle that feels like a hard lump under the skin.
9. A protuberant joint in a plant.
10. Any knob, lump, swelling, or protuberance.
11. The swelling of the bulbus glandis in members of the dog family, Canidae.
12. The point on which the action of a story depends; the gist of a matter.
13. A node (point at which the lines of a funicular machine meet from different angular directions)
14. A kind of epaulet; a shoulder knot.
15. A group of people or things.
16. A bond of union; a connection; a tie.
17. A unit of speed, equal to one nautical mile per hour.
18. A unit of indicated airspeed, calibrated airspeed, or equivalent airspeed, which varies in its relation to the unit of speed so as to compensate for the effects of different ambient atmospheric conditions on aircraft performance.
19. A nautical mile.
20. (slang) The bulbus glandis.

Verb

1. (transitive) To form into a knot; to tie with a knot or knots.
2. (transitive) To form wrinkles in the forehead, as a sign of concentration, concern, surprise, etc.
3. To unite closely; to knit together.
4. (obsolete, rare, transitive) To entangle or perplex; to puzzle.
5. (intransitive) To form knots.
6. (intransitive) To knit knots for a fringe.

Synonyms

tie

node

joint

lump

gnarl

tangle

band

knob

protuberance

bump

burl

bind

tie up

bow

🙇

string

🪢

secure

lace

bundle

hitch

knit

protrusion

loop

➿

tie down

tuber

knurl

kink

hump

swelling

tie a knot

attach

bulge

clump

nub

braid

brace

link

🔗

lash

junction

leash

thread

🧵

bond

button

fasten

join

crux

group

bunch

connection

point

cluster

Translations

nœud

🪢

Knoten

🪢

nodo

🪢

nudo

🪢

nó

🪢

noeud

knoop

nouer

🪢

knoest

κόμπος

annodare

nus

🪢

knoten

knopen

Pronounced as (IPA)

/nɒt/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: knotte

Inherited from Old English: cnotta

Cognate with Old High German: knoto

Cognate with German: Knoten

Cognate with Dutch: knot

Cognate with Low German: Knütte

Cognate with Old Norse: knútr

Cognate with Danish: knude

Cognate with Swedish: knut

Cognate with Norwegian: knute

Cognate with Faroese: knútur

Cognate with Icelandic: hnútur

Cognate with Latin: nōdus

In summary

From Middle English knotte, from Old English cnotta, from Proto-West Germanic *knottō, from Proto-Germanic *knuttô, *knudô (“knot”); probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gnod- (“to bind”).
See also Old High German knoto (German Knoten, Dutch knot, Low German Knütte; also Old Norse knútr > Danish knude, Swedish knut, Norwegian knute, Faroese knútur, Icelandic hnútur; also Latin nōdus and its Romance descendants. Doublet of knout, node, and nodus.
* (unit of speed): From the practice of counting the number of knots in the logline (as it is paid out) in a standard time. Traditionally spaced at one every ¹⁄₁₂₀ of a mile.